Suicide Note (Questions)

1. Why do people commit suicide? Provide example from real life.

-     One of the reason on why do people commit suicide is because they faced problems which make them feel depressed. They cannot overcome the problems which caused them to commit suicide in order to get away from the problems. They think that when they commit suicide, they will not have to face any problems. For example, students who always fail in their exams even though they already study hard. This situation will make them feel depressed, especially when they are receiving a lot of pressure from the people around them such as their parents or teachers. When they feel a lot of pressure, they will feel depressed if they cannot manage it well. So, when they are not thinking straight, they will decide to commit suicide in order to run away from the problems they faced.

2. What is her agenda in writing this poem

Janice Mirikitani wrote this poem because she wanted all people in this world to think a while about this matter. Janice also wanted to make the poem as a lesson to people so they do not take the easy way to solve the problem by commit suicide. In this poem, the suicidal girl has a perfectionist streak in her, which compels her to be highly critical of herself. She also seems to have set unreasonable standards for herself. The reoccurring line in this poem, “not good enough not pretty enough, not smart enough”, is to emphasize this aspect of her psyche. The poem also mentions how the girl failed to get high grades in exams. This also suggests that her parents were more concerned about the grades she acquires and not truly unconditional in their love for their daughter.

3. As teachers, what is our role to ensure that the students do not take their own life?


- sense something has changed and ask them if they have any problem.
- heart to heart session
- make counseling session 
- during mentor mentee program, teachers need to share some information about nowadays news and give some advices about that.

overview

What have you learn in English studies

Truthfully I love short story but I hate poems. I have difficulties in understanding them since secondary school. I’ve always need a source or reference to guide in understanding the poem. When I first study this subject, English Study, I find it hard to catch up with. All sorts of literary devices, paradox, oxymoron and all confused me and it is indeed tough for me to memorise it all as well as to recognize them on the poem. Perhaps because I’m more to a straight forward person, so I dislike to interpret  things. I prefer accept things just the way they are and as you know it is the complete opposite to the poems.

As time goes by, I started to actually like poem a little bit. But still I’m no good at it. As sir said that there is no right or wrong when it comes to literature, I thought it is up to me on how to apprehend them. So now I will try to translate every poem that were given to my own version then I will compare it with the lecturer’s adaptation. It’s kind of funny sometimes when my interpretation came out absolutely different from the actual meaning of it. Well I guess different person got the different opinion on something.

For the time being, I will continue to improve myself on literature despite of its ‘history ‘ with me. I’m going to be an English teacher so being an expert in this area is a compulsory. It’s only the beginning though so it is too early for me to give up. So, wish me luck ! J

by : ateeq medina

An Overview.

English Studies. When I first came here, I thought we only have to learn about things that we need to teach primary students at school. But my thought was wrong since I have to learn about poems and short stories which are not in the primary schools’ syllabus here. Why I have to learn this? I complained to myself. Then I thought, everything happens for a reason. In this class I relearn about poems and short stories but they were more difficult than what I had learned in high school. I do have some confusion here and there but I hope that I understand it better in future so that I will excel in my exam.

Now, I realize that old poems and short stories are difficult than the modern one. Even though they are difficult but I find it interesting since I learn new words and new phrases that I never heard before. Moreover, in this class, there is a lot of presentation to do. Although I did not like it at first but the presentations do help me with my others presentation. It is because my lecturer gives us critics after we done our presentations. Thanks to my lecturer. Even though I am not fully like literature but it does gives me inputs and more detail information as I go through it. 

BY : SITI AMIRA SALLEHUDIN

Compare & Contrast Between The Chimney Sweeper And The Three Beserah Fisherman

SIMILARITIES.


In the chimney sweeper by William Blake, the boy was sold by his own father out of poverty. So he has to work as a chimney sweeper to survive. Perhaps he’s going to be beaten by his master or maybe he will not be given food if he did not do his work well. The same goes to the poem Three Beserah Fisherman by Mohamad Hj Saleh. The fishermen in the poem have to go to the sea to feed them. They throw themselves to danger in the sea just to find something to eat and to keep their family alive. We can find the similarities between them, both of them are doing the dangerous job to survive and the job is a must. No exception to that. If they didn’t do the job well then they will face suffer. The danger that the chimney sweeper might encounter when doing his job is difficult to breath and it may contribute to asthma. Furthermore, the boy in the poem is just a child, makes it more risky.




DIFFERENCES.

Between Three Beserah Fishermen by Muhammad Hj. Salleh and The Chimney Sweeper by Wiliam Blake, there are some differences between them although the theme of the poems is literally the same. The theme is literally about hardship in life. But in Three Beserah Fishermen, they have other options than being fishermen for living their live unlike in The Chimney Sweeper which the children have no choice but to be chimney sweeper. Moreover, the setting in Three Beserah Fishermen happened in East lifestyle whereas in The Chimney Sweeper it happened at West lifestyle. In addition, the story in Three Beserah Fishermen still occurs now meanwhile in The Chimney Sweeper is no longer happening. It is because there is no people works as a chimney sweeper nowadays but as a fishermen, there is still people work as it. 

I used to....

I  see

the girls singing happily

the boys played roughly

some was crying,

some was sleeping,

but  yet

when the teacher come

they tends to cheer.

from A B C and 1 2 3

to  chemistry and biology

things that I used to.

Published by Rosiah Binti Omar

First Day At School

i still remember
that day
the sky was blue
the sun shines bright

i'm standing at the front gate
with my mother and sister
watching the people goes by

i was scared
alone in the class

i was happy
i met new friends
what a wonderful experience
my first day at school

Published by Siti Amerah Binti Ramli

The moment

I knew him,
I knew her,
So do them,
Yes we met before.

Yes, I'm happy here,
Running around
In the shining playground.
Dirty rough played,
in sense of excitement in our mind

But

In happiness, the sadness fly through.
I really missed my mother,
Yes, I do.

Published by Siti Noor Amira Binti Mohammad Johari

once upon a time~at school

deserted, cheated
left alone,she's not there anymore
wondering why should i be here
with these unfamiliar faces
sad..
but there's a smile
on the their face
it should be enough
for me to cheer.
it's the beginning..

by : ateeqmedina

First Day.

SMILE.

(Till my cheek hurts)

 ‘Don’t be passive. Make friends’

Short yet practical.

Thank you!

Loud. Whimper.

B and D.

All at once.

Urgh!

So disturbing!

Unpleasant to me.

But it’s the way it is.

My first day at school.

by Siti Amira Sallehudin.

The Garden Party(Opinion)

Assuming in your neighbourhood there is a death in the next two door.You are already make a preparation to a party.Everything had been ordered.Would you still carry on the party?.What would you do?


In our opinion,we will not continue the party.It is because we respect the funeral in our neighbourhood, whether it is a man with honor or just a fishmonger. As a neighbour,we need to be tolerate to each other because we live in a community.Besides that, we also think if we carry on this party it will hurt the other feelings.This is due to the different types of races and religions in our residents.We have to be more considerate with others either they are our relatives or anybody that are not in a relation with us.More than that,we also think that this action is a must as we need to be more understanding.This is very important because to maintain the relationship between the neighbours. To be more accurate, try to put ourselves in their shoes, so we will know how's that feels. For sure we will feel neglected, because of the neighbour is just being disrespectful to us when we are in sorrow and sad mood.So,in conclusion,if we want the others respect us, we need to respect them first.

the garden party

mrs.sheridan's diary.

dear diary,

Today I decided to not do anything,just leaving it to Laura, my eldest daughter to work on everything. Its kind of sweet escape when I didn't have to do all the decision. It starts off nicely when Laura agreed to take charge of the whole event an of course her younger siblings have to help her. I did said that I want to be their guest of honor and let the siblings entertains me. But it doesn't include the canna lilies I've ordered before the party. It was so beautiful so I decided to get them in large quantity. Oh, what harm will it do when I finally got enough of canna lilies for the first time. And I thought the garden party would be a very suitable excuse for having them. Laura was kind of mad at me, I guess when the florist arrived home earlier to deliver the lovely flower. Ah, it doesn't matter. After all, they're all just flowers, a decoration. But things aren't work quite smoothly when I got the news that our neighbour was dead. Laura freaks out when she knew about it and rushed to my room. I thought something really bad has happened, ya, based on the look on her face I did. Then again, it was just a random neighbour who got killed by an accident with a horse. How tragic must it have sounded when he left a widow and a half dozen of child to weep for him. As their family is a low class family, I did not agree with the suggestion of Laura to stop the party. It sounded absurd. It is indeed ridiculous when you have to stop an event because someone had just died. It doesn't work that way. So I told her to go on with the preparations and to make her feel better I had given her a hat, a beautiful one I supposed. Can't help but noticing it when people praise the hat when she wore it at the party though. As I planned, the party was a success. My children was happy, I was personally satisfied until my husband mention the death in front of our gate. Then when I looked at all the leftovers, the sandwiches, the muffin and all, this idea came across me. Perhaps I should give them to the widow and the children. at least they will worship it rather than them going to waste. When I think of it, it's fine to show some hospitality to our neighbour by giving them food and sending your daughter on your behalf. When i send Laura off to the house, she took extra long time to come home, so I was worried. Then I asked Laurie to go and look for her. But when Laura get back from the house, I noticed that her face was swollen a bit. Did she cried? I hope not. Cause it's not worth it.

the missing wife finally FOUND !

Do you remember the case where an Indian man make a report of his missing wife months ago? Guess what, our team finally met her. It was when one of our team member actually recognized her face when she was passing by a public library near the place. Well, who doesn't  when her husband had put so much efforts in finding her including putting a notice in San Jose Mercury as well as a half page ad in India west which he photocopied and taped to neighborhood lampposts. The ad had a photo of her , a close-up taken in too-bright sunlight where she gazed gravely at something beyond the camera. WOMAN MISSING, read the ad. REWARD $100,000. That was how much his love towards her. I personally thought that perhaps this poor man cannot simply live without her beloved wife.

We can not tell you the specific place of where we finally met her in order to fulfil her wish. She did not want her ex husband to find her ever again.That made us curious for a start since we found her in a perfect shape. We did ask what really happened and then she said " I just have to go. I don't feel like staying in that house anymore". "But why? " we asked. " You people don't know what i've been through. He was abusing me silently" said the owner of that pair of big black eyes. Her answer kept us wondering to know what really happened. If their marriage didn't work out then why don't they call it quit? Why does she have to do such a thing like running away from her commitment? After all,she has a son to look after.Suddenly she cried when we mention her boy." I really missed him" she said but she had to do that in order to get away from that man.

" He'll never let me go if I told him (his husband) that I was going to leave him. It's not that he loves me so much that he wanted me to be by his side but he just don'want to lose me. For Indians, divorce in a family is not a very good thing since it may had embarrassed him." she continued. " I do sometimes take a peek to my boy (her son) at the house but I'd be extra careful to not letting them saw me. Really, what kind of mother in the world who can stand to be apart from her child? But in the end,I know his father loves him so much and I had left him in a good hand." She is now pursuing her studies at a college here where it has been her dream the whole time - to be a successful,  and educated woman. Not that type of typical Indian woman who her ex wanted her to be that only stayed home and do the house chores beside entertain the husband. She wanted more and that was the reason why she left the house.

the disappearance (part 1)

1.Does the title hint at anything ominous? How?
- yes it does.from the title, the reader can tell that something ominous would happen in the story and it has something to do with disappearance of someone important. so it is, the protagonist's wife were missing and it left a great impact on the family. her son kept looking for her as well as her husband. but later, the protagonist finally found out that her disappearance was because of her flee, not of crime and such. 

2. The father does not give any indication to the son that his mother is coming back. Why is that so?
- because he really do not know where the mother was. he did not want to lie to her son as he personally taught him ever not to lie. finally the father discovered that the mother ran away from home, this strengthen his intuition that she was never going to come back home to the family.


3. Do you think it is acceptable to tell a white lie?
- i think it is acceptable since we were lying to a little kid just to comfort them. then again, it depends on situation. the boy will finally know the truth sooner or later but during his age, it is acceptable for the father to just ease his mind  and he can always tell his son the truth when he is growing up and at the right time.


4. Do you think the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' summarises this short story? How?
-yes i do think it summaries the story. as we can see, the longer the protagonist being apart with her wife, the feeling towards her decreases. it was shown when he can remove her photo from the frame and replace it with the picture of him and his son. he is slowly forgetting his wife. and right after he discover that she left her, he decided to remarry and having another family to replace her.




5. Do Americans and Indians share the same values? Explain.
- they obviously did not share the same values. the first difference is the wife of the Indians ought to be loyal and obedient to her husband. meanwhile the American's wives prefer to do things on their own than listening to their husband. Other than that, the Indians' wives are more proper and they usually have the basic knowledge to manage their family such as the cooking skills. Unlike the Americans' wives, they not likely have the basic of the knowledge as they rather buy or feed their family with fast food than prepare it on their own.

Theme

LOVE

The theme that we found in The Jade Bracelet is love.  The love is between Siew May and her grandmother. it is shown when Siew May always looking for her grandmotherfrom the beginning of the story till the end of the story. At the beginning, after played 'masak - masak' with the twins, she will start looking for her grandmother.
another evidence is when she becomes very anxious when Ah Chong said that her grandmother is going to die. she was worried if her grandmother will trully leave her.then, at the temple, during the cremation of her grandmother, she started to wonder where is the presence of her grandmother and insisted on going home because she worried that her grandmother might be waiting for her alone at home. despite of the fact that her grandmother was cremated in front of her own two eyes, she still look for her.

this theme was also found in the short story The Rose For Emily.

Emily loved her late father dearly. When her father passed away, she resisted to accept the fact that her beloved father was gone forever. She stayed home for three days and she kept the dead body of her father with her. She did not allow the villagers to come in and buried her father. It was only after she got the enforcement from the law then she allowed the people to come and organize the funeral for her father. another love was shown when she met the love of her life, Homer Barron. she take his life for fear that he would leave her. then she actually kept that rotting corpse in her house for years.

in the short story The Lamb To The Slaughter,

It was shown at the character of Mrs Maloney who loved her husband dearly. She loved everything about him. She would waited for him to come home from work every single day. it is okay for her to do the same routine all over again as long as she could be with her hubby. When her husband told her that he wanted a divorce, she could not believe it. for a while, she pretend that she did not hear a thing. It was a complete denial for her as she love her husband so much. because of her love, she was afraid to lose him and decide that only the death can make them apart. It was until one point that her husband did not allow her to prepare him a dinner that she act so spontaneously by hitting him to death. Then she satisfied by losing that way.

the jade bracelet (part 2)

possible ending of the story..

          After Ah Kow got the bracelet, he is extremely happy because he finally got a solution for his financial problems. he did not have to ask for help from her brother anymore. The jade will be sold by Ah Kow since he is indeed desperate for money. he would not valued the jade bracelet although it was the only heirloom that his mother left for the family. He is not that responsible to keep it in a good condition and to treasure it dearly. 

       As for Siew May, the daughter of Mrs Wong, she would feel very sad and frustrated of not having that jade bracelet because she's been wanting that bracelet since her late grandmother was still alive. The bracelet supposed to be hers because her late grandmother had told her that she would have it once her grandmother dies. If she got the it, she would be the  happiest girl alive. but we don't know how well she's going to keep it in a good shape since she love to play masak-masak with her friends. lets hope that she did not lose it while playing her games. 

      Her mother, Mrs Wong is clearly had made a mistake for giving the heirloom of the family to Ah Kow. Everyone know how irresponsible person he is and giving that jade bracelet to him is just the same as throwing it away. It is true that Ah Kow is the only male successor of the family but passing down the precious thing to him just doesn't seems like a very good idea.

The Jade Bracelet~~ Mary Frances Chong

1.            What is the relationship between Mrs Wong and Mrs Lee?

-       They are siblings

2.            Is Mrs Wong a filial daughter? Give three reasons.

-       Yes

-       She carefully prepared the breakfast broth forher sick mother

-       She never complaint

-       She had been nursing her bed-ridden mother for years

3.            What  is Ah Kow's real name? How is he related to the dying woman in                     the short story?

4.            Why is Sam Poh Tong mentioned in the short story?

-       It is because it is the name of the temple that Mrs Wong took their mother to.

5.            What do you think the jade bracelet symbolises? Give your reasons.

-       It symbolize strength as the jade remained in good condition even after being burnt. Grandmother wore it for a very long time yet it was still in shape.

6.            Do you think Siew May is naive? Cite your reasons with quotations.

-       Yes I think Siew May is naïve. She only thought of having that jade bracelet  when her grandmother was sick.  When they were at the temple, she actually can observe the presence of the turtle in the pond in that chaotic situation. Next was when she cried of wanting to go home and wondering that her grandmother might be waiting alone in their house eventhough at that particular moment,her grandmother was already dead an her corpse was burnt into ashes in front of her two eyes.

7.            Did Siew May get the jade bracelet in the end? Why?

-       Siew May did not get the jade bracelet because her mother gave it to her brother,  Ah Fook Kee since he is the only man in their family.

8.            Do you like the story? Why?

-       Yes, I do like the story because there are moral values that I can follow from this short story. The first one is respect the elders. It shows when the children respect their mother like Mrs Wong respect her mother and Siew May respect Mrs Wong.

SIew May also respect her uncle, Ah Fook Kee.

The second one is the love of a daughter to her mother. Mrs Wong still take care of her ill mother till the end. It shows the love and respect that she owns towards her mother.

dialogue between Uncle Teng and his parents

mom              :: how was it , Teng? your meeting with that girl?

Uncle Teng    :: it didn't go quite well as i planned, mom..

mom              :: but why , my son? was that girl doesn't suits you well?

dad                :: yeah Teng? what is wrong with her?

Uncle Teng    :: it was not her but there was an incident that makes me not to sure of making her as my wife.

dad               :: and what was it exactly?

Uncle Teng    :: she spilled her curry all over me , mom, dad. it ruined my first impression of her.

mom           :: but son,it was only an accident right? it is not like she's doing it on purpose. why don't you                                                                               think of it that way?

Uncle Teng    :: hmm.... i think you're right,mom. she is still a nice girl overall.. and i got my eyes on her for the first time i saw her already.

dad               :: there you go son, i think perhaps she is the one for you don't you think?

Uncle Teng    :: yeah dad,i think so.

mom              :: how about her family?

Uncle Teng    :: she got a lovely grandmother that raised her well and know how to disciplined her. she also got a                                 younger brother which i thought was spoil by her grandmother.

dad               :: well, it's kind of a relief to hear. i can assume that she has a good family background and well-                        raised. that is important when you want to have a daughter in law . for sure i want her to be a good girl because she is going to carry our dignity once she marries you, my son.

mom             :: i agree with your dad. but nevertheless this matter must be taken seriously because it involves you life, your responsibility and your happiness.

Uncle Teng   :: yes mom, dad. i will think of it thoroughly before making my decision.

birthday ~ lee kok liang 2

chinese birthday buns

red string symbolize love

THEME

Match making


 In this short story, we can see that the grandmother trying so hard to match making 'she' with Uncle Teng. The grandmother is strict about the match making because at that time, in Chineseculture, women are suppose  to get married at 18 years old meanwhile the protagonist age now is 25 years old. Therefore, grandmother is angry to wards the protagonist when what she had planned didn't go as she plan.


CHARACTERS & CHARACTERISTICS

1) She ( The Protagonist )

• had her mother's eyes & her grandfather's chin.
• obedient since she obeyed to her grandmother 
• know how to cook since she is the one who cook for the dinner.

2) The Grandmother

•  match maker because she wants the protagonist to get married with Uncle Teng.
• strict since she made some rules around the house.- The protagonist lit the candle since there were no eletric lights.

3) UncleTeng

• A friend of grandmother
• friendly - he knows how to mix around with others ( ex. C.B )

PLOT

Exposition

• The story starts with the protagonist looking out the window and wishing that she could get married and having a baby. It is also when the narrator introduce the grandmother, who take care of the protagonist & C.B

Conflict

• It starts when grandmother introduce Uncle Teng to the protagonist to be her husband. Grandmother tried to match making both of them. This is because she didn't get married yet eventhough she is 25 years old.

Climax

• It was when the protagonist accidentally spilled over the curry onto Uncle Teng's pants. The grandmother was very angry and te protagonist was punished- not alowed to eat dinner for that night.

Resolution

• She was cursed by grandmother because of her mistakes and she has to be a spinster for the rest of her life because of that mistake. The short story ends with the protagonist missing her mother.

birthday ~ lee kok liang

1)Does the protagonist has a name?

-  No since no name was mention in the short story except for Uncle Teng and C.B.

2) Whose birthday is this?

- The protagonist since there is a scene which mention that she is twenty-five years old today and the scene
   describe how she celebrate her birthday alone.

3) How Chinese culture did help to make you understand more?

-  It helps me understand more about the "red string" which means the bond of love between man and woman that has been decided by God. Other than that, chinese people believe that red represents the prosperity of life.

Lamb to the Slaughter

hye,

this blog were composed by our group,. we call ourself little teachers..

we are,

• Ateeq Medina bt. Mohd Maliki
• Rosiah bt. Omar
• Siti Amira bt. Sallehudin
• Siti Amerah bt. Ramli
• Siti Noor Amira bt. Mohammad Johari

one of the scene from "Lamb to the Slaughter" short story.....